Roman Corruption:

• One of the main types of government corruption most used by consuls was to buy the votes of Roman citizens.
• The representatives of authorities were making the contacts, conducting the [[#|negotiations]] and getting [[#|paid]] to give a certain political leader votes.
• Politicians were willing to use all methods to achieve their objectives, including the creation of paramilitary organizations designed to act on their orders.
• Political corruption was also manifested by the creation of laws that apparently were benefiting the population, but in reality they were aimed at increasing the wealth of the [[#|heads]] in the government.
• Political corruption was one of the causes that led to dictatorship in the Roman Republic, with serious consequences for society. The leaders soon found themselves heading the country by themselves, and not counting the Roman [[#|citizen]] votes.
• Political corruption in ancient Rome was created through organized violence. In the assembly of the [[#|people]] where the important decisions were made, ordinary citizens could not [[#|speak]] but could at least inform themselves, hearing the magistrates and senators’ statements at various debates. Besides these popular gatherings, any other meeting was considered a rebellion.
• Gradually the Praetorian Guard had gained [[#|complete]] authority to choose the emperor, who then rewarded the Guard, and made the Praetorian Guard much more influential.
• Roman politics hit [[#|rock]] bottom. Candidates, in some cases, dispensed with promoting sporting events and simply [[#|bought]] votes.

Current Corruption Problems:

• In the Corruption Perception Index, the United States rank 19th with a score of 73. The top countries agains government corruption are Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand.
• Some bad impacts on current government corruption today, are an increase [[#|in debt]], bypassing local democratic processes, damaging the environment, circumventing legislation, and promoting weapsons sale.
• There are some IMF and [[#|World Bank]] Policies that increase corrution. They have recieved sharp critizm for increasing poverty by opening [[#|barriers]] to trade before poorer countries are economically ready to do so, and it has created situations ripe for corruption.
• The first example is the US government, accused of outsourcing many contracts without an open bid process. Another example is Italy, where former Italian Prime [[#|Minister]] Silvio Berlusconi and some of his close [[#|associates]] were held on trial for various crimes and corruption cases. In the United Kingdom, the arms manufacturer, BAE was being investigated for bribing Saudi officials to buy fighter planes, but the government intervened in the investigation citing national interests. The recent example with the UN has been the [[#|oil]] for food scandal.
  

  Solutions for Corruption:

• Strengthen Democracy’s Transparency Pillar: One of the pillars of democracy is transparency; knowing what goes on in society and being able to make informed decisions should improve participation and also check unaccountability.
• Address Weaknesses In The Global System.
• Improve Government Budget Transparency.
• Make It Harder To Embezzle Billions.

Final Project Link: